Olympic Main Press Centre, Athens (Greece)
The project is part of the facility buildings next to the Olympic Stadium. The OMPC-building is an extension of 44,000 sqm of the existing convention center "Helexpo". The entire complex has approximately 65,000 sqm. The building includes conference rooms with a capacity up to 800 people. The conference area has five floors above ground with a free span of 27.0 m. In total, approximately 4,000 tons of steel are used.
After extensive research of earthquake loads, so called "eccentric bracing" were applied in the design.
Because of the importance of the building complex, the Greek government set the earthquake load at 0.24 g (instead of 0.16 g). In addition, a requirement for the complex stiffness was made. The natural frequency must exceed 1.25 Hz. Through an intensive design process, both starting points are met.
